Lee’s big game cut short following collision

In returning slumping left fielder Carlos Lee to the cleanup spot Sunday, Mills explained, “I know he’s struggling a little bit and so forth, but with a lefthanded pitcher in this ballpark, it’s nice to have his bat in there.”

Lee scored the Astros’ first run and drove home the next three with a sixth-inning homer off lefty Chris Narveson in a 5-0 victory.

Lee finished 2-for-3, lifting has average from .194 to .207, before running into a problem Mills couldn’t possibly foresee.

After a seventh-inning collision with shortstop Angel Sanchez, Lee got carted off the field with injured left ribs and spent Sunday night at Methodist Hospital. After an X-ray and a CT scan, doctors determined Lee has a left rib contusion, and his status is day-to-day.

“You never want to see that happen,” Astros center fielder Jason Bourgeois said. “I was hoping he was going to get up. I saw his hand shaking a little bit, so I could tell he was really hurting. He’s a big guy, so hopefully he can recover real quick.”

The Astros were leading 4-0 when Lee and Sanchez made sliding attempts at a Mark Kotsay blooper that fell for double. Sanchez’s right knee smacked into the ribs of Lee, who was on the ground in obvious pain while Astros head trainer Nate Lucero tended to him.

“I think I got him really good,” Sanchez said. “He looked like he was in pain. Any time you hit the ribs, it’s really painful. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I was trying to make a play. He was trying to make a play. It just happened. Stuff happens.”